Commentary

Don't look now, but your energy bill is going to be about two percent higher than it was last year, according to the Federal Energy Information Administration. The rise is attributed to higher costs of fuels used in energy generation. But maybe it's better that you do look, and closely, too, because there are plenty of ways to trim down your energy bill.

Imagine getting paid, or otherwise compensated, for not using energy! It's a reality these days, and it's known as demand response. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defines demand response as "actions voluntarily taken by a consumer to adjust the amount or timing of his energy consumption."

An urban area that creates sustainable economic development and high quality of life along with a wise management of natural resources requires investment in infrastructure and technology. Such smart cities will rely on networks of sensors in everything from parking spaces to heating and cooling systems. And while most of the attention has been on sensors and software for interpreting masses of smart city data, a smart city isn't so smart if the physical network breaks down.

Most companies engage in manual data entry in some form. One area manual data entry is prevalent is energy management. Although it is essentially ubiquitous, the process consists of an abundance of glaring inefficiencies.

Retail residential electricity prices across the U.S. rose in the first half of this year, averaging 12.3 per kilowatt hour, a 3.2 percent price hike from the same period last year. This is the largest six-month rise since 2009, the U.S Energy Information Administration has reported.

The West Coast Electric Highway (WCEH) comprises 57 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Oregon and Washington. It is one of the largest contiguous networks of direct current (DC) fast chargers in North America. These stations enable EVs to charge approximately 80 percent of their battery capacity in 30 minutes or less, which provides EV drivers the peace of mind to travel from city to city in the Pacific Northwest, untethered from their residential chargers.

The primary goals of any national electrical Smart Grid program are to add monitoring, analysis, control and communication capabilities to a nation's power delivery system to maximize the system's efficiency, streamline operations, and upgrade security protections-all while also reducing energy consumption.

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